What’s the Number one Thing to Know Concerning Hearing Loss?

As we age we tend to think that hearing loss only has an affect on people of advanced age. The majority of us have had experience with older people attempting to hear conversations, or wearing hearing aids.

As you become more mature, you start to find out that there is a different factor regarding hearing loss aside from aging.

This is the one thing you should know: accepting that you have hearing loss doesn’t make you old.

It Doesn’t Matter how old you are, you Might Still get Hearing Loss

Even in pre-teens, hearing specialists can already diagnose some hearing loss in 13% of cases. Obviously, a person who is 12 is not “old”. Within 30 years there has been a 33% rise in teenage hearing loss.

It’s not an aging problem. It’s 100% possible to prevent, although the majority of people may think of it as an aging problem. And you have the ability to drastically lessen the development of your hearing loss.

Sensorineural hearing loss, which is the medical name for age-related hearing loss, is normally caused by loud noise.

For generations hearing loss was believed to be inevitable as you get older. However thanks to today’s science we know a great deal more about hearing loss prevention and even hearing regeneration.

The Reason why Loud Noise Causes Hearing loss

Step one to taking care of your hearing is understanding how something as “innocent” as loud noise causes hearing loss.

Sound is made up of waves of pressure. Traveling down into your ear these waves go beyond your eardrum and into the inner ear.

Inside of the inner ear little hairs vibrate. Which hair cells vibrate, and how fast or frequently they vibrate, become a neurological code. Your brain can interpret this code into conversations, rushing water, a car horn, a cry for help or anything else you might hear.

The problem is at the time the inner ear is exposed to noises that are too loud, these hair cells vibrate too fast. They die because the vibrations become too strong for them to deal with.

If you don’t have them, you can’t hear.

Hearing Loss Caused by Loud Sound is Permanent

Countless kinds of damage will be healed by your body. These little cells never heal. When they are gone, they are gone permanently. Each and every time you are exposed to loud sound, a few more of these cells die.

Hearing loss progresses as they die.

There are Sounds That are Common Which Will Cause Hearing Loss

Most people are shocked to learn that everyday activities might cause hearing loss. You may not question:

Going to a concert/play/movie

Wearing earbuds/head phones

Turning the car stereo way up

Mowing the lawn

Using farm equipment

Riding a motorcycle/snowmobile

Driving on a busy highway with the windows or top down

Working in a factory or other loud industry

Hunting

Being a musician

It’s not necessary to quit these activities. The good thing is, you can take proactive steps to lessen noise-induced hearing loss.

You Don’t Have to Feel old Simply Because you Have Hearing Loss

If you already suffer from hearing loss, recognizing it doesn’t need to cause you to feel older. In reality, failing to acknowledge it can guarantee faster progression and complications that will definitely make you feel a lot older in just a few years including:

Depression

Anxiety

Dementia/Alzheimer’s

Increased Fall Risk

Social Isolation

More frequent trips to the ER

Strained relationships

For people with untreated hearing loss, suffering from one or more of these is considerably more common.

Stop Further Hearing Problems

Start by recognizing exactly how to protect against hearing loss.

Sound meter apps are readily available for your smart-phone that can tell you how loud things really are.

You should know that you have already caused hearing damage if you have had a hard time hearing, or if your ears were ringing, after a concert. It will become a lot more obvious as time goes by.

Put on earplugs or maybe sound-dampening earmuffs when appropriate.

Follow workplace hearing safety regulations.

Minimize your exposure time to loud sounds.

Steer clear of standing in close proximity to loudspeakers or turning speakers up when at home.

Get earbuds/headphones which have integrated volume control. They don’t go over 90 decibels. Most people would have to listen pretty much non-stop all the time to do permanent damage.

High blood pressure, low blood oxygen, and some medications tend to make you more vulnerable at lower volumes. To be sure, never listen to headphones at over 50%. Car speakers differ.

Wear your hearing aid. Not using a hearing aid when you actually need them causes the brain to atrophy. It’s similar to your leg muscles. If you stop walking, it will be much harder to start walking again.

Call a Hearing Professional for a Hearing Test

Are you in denial or procrastinating on it? Make the right decision sooner than later. You need to know so you can be proactive to lessen further damage.

Consult Your Hearing Professional Regarding Hearing Solutions

There are not any “normal cures” for hearing impairment. If you have severe hearing loss, it’s time to get a hearing aid.

Do a Cost-Benefit Evaluation of Hearing Aids

Many people are either in denial about hearing loss, or maybe, they decide to “tough it out.” They feel that hearing aids will make them appear old. Or maybe they believe that they cost too much.

However when they recognize that hearing loss will get worse faster and can cause several health and relationship difficulties, it’s simple to be certain that the pros well outweigh the cons.

Consult a hearing care expert today about getting a hearing evaluation. And if hearing aids are needed, don’t be afraid of “feeling old.” Hearing aids nowadays are much more streamlined and more sophisticated than you probably think!